


The Winds that Carry Us

by Rosesontherocks



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 09:13:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18312635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosesontherocks/pseuds/Rosesontherocks
Summary: “No.”Time’s eyes widened, “No?”“As much as I would like to be with you all, I don’t belong on the ground, hidden in the foliage. I belong up there,” He gestures to the night.





	The Winds that Carry Us

The soul of a young boy sits in the aged body of a man, who rests against the rocks near the edges of a shoreline. Sun cracked skin from years on the sea, bleached locks of blonde parted by calloused hands that held ropes of masts and tinted with the remains of engine grade coals. A weathered tunic of blue with a faded white lobster, patched with new cloth and messy sewn lines, and necklace that he has worn for far too long a time. 

The Hero of the Winds smiles brighter than the sun that forces him to shield his eyes, the calm sea reflecting in them as he watches his children’s children play with the eager waves that guide them through the tides. His wife, their grandmother, just as youthful in her step as she swings them around, reenacting the days of old through stories tailored with truths only she and Wind would keep for themselves and their late crews. 

“Isn’t it funny Aryll? I’ve turned into Granny,” he remarks to no one but the breeze. 

“I know you would have enjoyed this too, it’s not the same as your old lookout but I think it’s rather close. I wonder if you can see it wherever you and their parents are causing mischief now.” 

His attention shifts as cheerful shouts from one of his granddaughters beckon him to join them. He waves them off, changing it quickly to extending his middle finger at Tetra as she calls him a lazy old geezer. As much as he’d like to, years of fighting have left scars that although pale in comparison to some of his other selves he wears them with pride, even if they add to the ache that strikes deep to his bones. Wind should’ve listened to the Old man when he preached about taking care of your own body, despite the dorky bastard not even listening to his own advice. He snickers at the thought, slowly dozing off as he reminisces.

It’s not until the sun meets the horizon, filling the sky with prismatic beauty does Wind wake. He feels the warmth of a hand on his shoulder, gently bringing him to consciousness. 

Wind expects to see Tetra. A partial smile to a powerful glare as she’s come to bring him inside, pulling him by the ear as she bickers about their granddaughters pestering her for another night of the family’s special soup. Bless Wild for taking those late night hours to teach him how to cook. Who knows what would have happened sooner to his children if their two parents had been without the skills to feed them, let alone the mouths they feed now.  
He can’t say he’s surprised when the hand that still holds onto him is not of his heart’s Captain but one translucent, nor a hand, but a large paw emanating a soft golden glow.

“Hello, Little Sailor.” 

Wind’s head jerks around at the sound of a title he hasn’t heard in years. There behind him stands the Hero of Time, armor different than before, alight by the same glow of the paw no longer pressing against him. Yet when that familiar tired eye, or eyes, met his own, there was no hesitation in his response. 

“Time? How did you? Why are? What are you doing here?” 

A gentle smile spreads across the elder’s face, “Can’t a father come see his son every once in a while?” 

He moves to sit down beside Wind, getting a look from him when the younger notices how he can almost see the rocks through Time’s torso. Time shifts his attention from him out to the sky now littered with stars. 

“You know, you were right. A lake view pales in comparison to all of this.” 

“You died.” 

“And the breeze? A bit too salty for my taste, but I think I get why you were so apprehensive towards drinking water now.” 

“Link, you fucking died.” 

Time sighed, looking up to the sky, “I know Wind.” 

“How did it happen?” 

“It wasn’t too bad, I lived a few more years after we all returned and I died protecting the people I love. At least, after this long, I’ve finally looked at it that way.” 

Wind doesn’t try to hide the crack in his voice, “Does this mean that the others are gone too?” 

“Well yes, and no. Some of them are still living and breathing in their own times, but at the same time, they’re waiting for us in the woods. You know how time works for us after everything the witch of the realms has put us through.” 

Wind rolls his eyes, even after all these years he still hadn’t taken a side in the squabble between Sky and Time. Yet, he also won’t deny the fact that he and Tetra never brought up the goddesses in their day to day lives, nor mentioned Hylia in their grandchildren's’ bedtime stories. 

At the thought of them, Wind can’t help but stare at the small house just a ways off. A slight pain fills his chest as his mind subconsciously moves his lips for him. 

“You said the others are waiting, does that mean…” 

“I’m sorry, Son.”

Time wished so desperately that he could reach out and hold Wind as tears began to form in his eyes. 

“I guess I should’ve realized it, you know? I haven’t been able to get around without some sort of support, and it’s been days since the last time I came out here,” he mutters, trying to force a small smile still.

“Hell, I think I already figured it out and that’s why I’m here. I just didn’t want to believe it.” 

He wipes away the tears with shaky hands, taking a strangled deep breath, “How much longer do I have?” 

“A few minutes. I thought it would be good to wake you, so it wouldn’t feel so sudden.” 

“Well shit,” Wind ignores the face Time makes at his words, “What happens now?” 

“You could join us in the forests. Farore would be thrilled to have another of her champions’ walk among her lands. That, and we’d all be together again.” 

It’s silent for a few moments, Time waiting for the younger to say anything in response. Watching as his eyes seem to go through several emotions, foot shaking as Wind processed. 

“No.” 

Time’s eyes widened, “No?” 

“As much as I would like to be with you all, I don’t belong on the ground, hidden in the foliage. I belong up there,” He gestures to the night, “I want to be where I can feel the winds beneath me, where I can travel across the seas without care.” 

“You still can,” a new voice declares. 

Wind practically jumps as he sees Sky now standing in front of him, bathed in a white light similar to Time. 

“Did you think that I’d give up my wings forever? Stay landlocked when I finally was given the freedom to fly again?” 

He holds a hand out to Wind, “The winds won’t support us forever, there will still be moments where we need to land.” 

“And we will be there to greet you when you do,” Time chimes in. 

Sky grins, hand extending even further, “Well, what do you say Seabird?” 

Wind doesn’t respond in words, instead, he reaches out, watching as a smaller ocean blue hand escapes from his body’s skin and take hold of Sky’s hand. Gasping as he stands, feeling the weight of the world escape him. He studies himself, feeling where the stitches of his once more oversized tunic were erased as if brand new. Adjusting to the change of his limbs and giving a slight pout at first when he realizes how short he is again. 

He looks down at his body, a gentle smile with closed eyes, just as if he was still blissfully dreaming. He hopes that Tetra will be the first to find him. 

He clasps his hands behind his back, spinning around on one foot back to the others. “Now what?” 

“We go where the winds will carry us.”


End file.
